Friday, December 26, 2014

Can you believe 2014 is almost over? Time flies by when your having fun! This year was full of lots of big changes for me and my business and looking back I wouldn't change a thing. I'm excited for the new year. New designs, new directions, and more blogging!

Before the year ends I think It's time for one more big sale for 2014!

Can be honest I'm still working on some major medical bills we got this summer. I realllllllly need to pay them off. Lets just say if 1/2 of my Facebook fans bought one pattern it would lift a huge burden off my family. So these patterns will be on sale until I reach a goal. It may be a couple days or it could take up through the rest of the year. So for now The sale will stay live through the end of the 2014 unless I reach my personal goal of sales!

PS. Don't forget I have 11 Pattern retiring at the end of the year. They will be filed away. Some will get major changes and others will be gone for good. They will not disappear from your Raverly Libraries. Don't worry! They will be in raverly forever just not purchasable again to new buyers.

Monday, December 22, 2014

I was so excited when I was asked to design a crochet pattern for the Stitch & Unwind Blog. They just ask for design for Winter! I was on a cowl kick and wanted something lacey and soft. I was drawn to some lovely pale winter shades of purple. I think the cowl came out gorgeous and I know you'll love it too!

Friday, December 19, 2014

So my hubby texts me a picture of a dog yesterday - "found this adorable little dog running around in the street by the gas station across town" No tags or collar. The gas station said she'd been around for days. (I'm thinking oh no we can't have a dog, we aren't supposed to in the rent house we have.)

My hubby is a sucker for rescuing dogs.

We had tried the whole dog thing before but mainly larger dogs and I just didn't have time to properly train puppies or they didn't work out with the kids and such. We've re-homed two dogs when we had to move suddenly about a year and half ago. I said I would never do a dog again and thought sorry dear this isn't happening. Meanwhile he called our landlord and he said "well if she's small I think it will be okay!" and thus we have a new puppy!

I wasn't too excited about it but then I met her and I've fallen in love already! Got her all cleaned up and spent the rest of the evening with her. She is so quiet and sweet. I've yet to hear her bark. She loves the kids. Is going potty likes she's supposed to and she snuggled with us all night long. We still need to get her to the vet for a check up and see if she might be chipped.

We didn't want to go with a Christmas type name for her and it took us a long time to decide but we went with Lucy. My son loves Legos and the latest Lego movie with Emmet and Wildstyle. Wildstyles' real name was Lucy so that's where it came from LOL.

Now if you know anything about me you know my mom is a crochet designer for dogs-

Monday, December 15, 2014

I've been trying to have sales once a month for you guys! They have been going really great and I can't even begin to tell you what It means to me when you purchase a pattern. THANK YOU!!

Things have been very tight this year and you've made it possible for me to pay most those extra unexpected dr. bills we had and still have. I have a long ways to go before they are paid down but with each sale we get a little bit closer!
So here is another discount for you to enjoy to get any last minute patterns for Christmas
along with a limited time freebie too (details below)!

Saturday, December 13, 2014

I was wanting to design a quick, cozy, and Christmasy free pattern for you. You cannot go wrong with red and fuzzy white trim this time of year. I hope you enjoy this pattern for Festive Fur Boot Cuffs. Don't get stuck on Red. These would be fun in lots of other colors too! Try Green, Blue or maybe even stripes! Enjoy!!

Thursday, December 4, 2014

A friend of my hubby said "Can you make me a scarf? I just want something bright." So I started browsing my yarn stash and looking around for patterns. I kinda get overwhelmed with possibilities sometimes but then I found the perfect yarn! My usually favorite of Tweed Stripes!! It was perfect! Now to work my magic! Here is what I came up with! I love that way it came out!

It's bright, warm, squishy and perfect to add some color to those winter hues!!

Plus it makes a great last minute gift! Just takes a few hrs of time!!

Special Stitch: 3-dc Cluster (worked around one dc), * yarn over,
insert hook from front to back around post of dc
indicated, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and draw through 2 loops on hook; repeat from *2 times more, yarn over and draw through all 4 loops on hook.

Row 2:Ch 3 (counts as first dc), turn; dc in next dc, *ch 3, work 3-dc Cluster around last dc made,
skip next ch-3, dc in next 2 dc; repeat from *across. Row 3-68: Repeat Row 2Fasten off and weave in ends. You can easily add or subtract rows to make it the length desired!

Hope you love it! I'm going to make another one for me and I'm pretty sure this stitch will turn into a new set! So keep checking back for more patterns soon!!

If you've followed with me some this year you'll know I started a journey to get fit! I took up running and eating healthier! I'm so excited that I've lost 65 pounds and that even with the holiday season upon us I'm managing to maintain. It can be a hard time of year!

This month I'm determined to get 10K steps a day with my Fitbit! They've added Challenge groups so now I have competition with other friends! I want to win but I got work to do!!

So, I've heard it said you can burn 100 calories in an hr while crocheting - (Crochet Spot.) I don't know how accurate that is but today I thought I'd try something new! I was walking with a running buddy the other day and she mentioned seeing a guy once crocheting/knitting while running a marathon. I thought that would be so cool but I need a friend to run with that would hold my yarn LOL!

My good friend recently gave me her old treadmill so today I thought that spot for my water would hold a crochet skien nicely. Why not crochet while I walk? It was a run rest day but I still wanted to get in those steps!

(don't worry I stopped the treadmill to take the picture!)

I walked for 60 minutes, not super fast but did increase my pace as I got comfortable. I would say you need to work on something you don't have to look at closely. I've been wanting to make my favorite hat (Key Tab Slouch -free pattern) in a new color.

In that hr. I waked 2.6 miles and got the brim of the hat done. It flew by really fast actually! I was doing two things I really enjoy doing!!

If you do it just be careful that your yarn is secure and not hanging down! I did pull the safety key out once when I wasn't paying attention to the walking lol!

So maybe I burned an extra 100 calories since I was multitasking! Who knows!

Here is my new Before and After pic too!

They have these huge ornament decorations downtown and we like to do family pics down there!